


Concrit Welcome

by soroga



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, In-Universe Fanfic, Meta Fic, crosspost, generational differences, kinkmeme fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24322831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soroga/pseuds/soroga
Summary: None of Petra's classmates are willing to beta her first fic. Luckily, Flayn's up to the task! But why does Flayn think she needs a disclaimer in her summary? And what's an A/N?
Relationships: Flayn & Petra Macneary
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28
Collections: FE3H Kink Meme





	Concrit Welcome

Petra's search for a beta was not going well. 

Bernadetta had stammeringly agreed, as long as Petra slid her fics underneath Bernadetta's door and made no attempt to see her directly. But when Petra got the fic back, there was only one correction on it - and that correction was crossed out, followed by a note saying "there's nothing wrong with your fic, Bernie's being STUPID, please don't ask me for this again!!" 

Sylvain had also agreed, and Petra thought he did a good job pointing out her grammar mistakes, though it was hard for her to tell what she was doing wrong. But his notes about Petra's female characters were unhelpful. Petra did not want to read Sylvain's opinions about realistic female behavior, and he did not seem able to stop himself.

The rest of her house had not been any more help.

"Sorry," Dorothea had said when Petra asked, "I only read femslash! But if you ever write any, I'd be happy to beta that, okay?" 

Edelgard had seemed very confused as to what fanfiction was when Petra asked, and her explanations did not seem to help. Caspar tried, but he got stuck on the huddling for warmth scene. "Why don't they just do pushups to stay warm?" He asked. "That's way more effective! Linhardt sleeps on me all the time and his toes never warm up." 

Ferdinand got a bit farther, but at the beginning of the sex scene, he put one hand over his red face and waved the other frantically at Petra. "I am sorry, but I cannot do this any longer," he said between his fingers. "They are not even married!"

She didn't even get the whole question out before Hubert turned around and walked away from her without a word. Linhardt hadn't even raised his head from the book he was using as a pillow when he denied her. "I don't bother commenting on the fics I read, so why would I go through all the trouble of betaing one?" He said.

It was enough to make someone very discouraged. But Petra was not the kind to give up. She might not have complete mastery of the Fodlan tongue, but _someone_ in Garreg Mach must be able to help her. Perhaps Claude? 

He was not at the library when she checked, though Flayn was, digging through a shelf and sighing loudly as she did not find what she was looking for. 

"Are you knowing where Claude is?" Petra asked her, interrupting her fruitless search. "I am hoping for him to beta my fiction - "

That was all it took for Flayn to whirl around, eyes wide with delight. "Petra! I didn't realize you were an author!" 

"An...author?" Petra was not sure if fic writers were usually called that. She hoped Flayn was not misled by her saying 'fiction.' Sylvain kept telling her to say 'fic' instead; he might have a point. "It is only fanfic."

"Oh, that's perfect!" Flayn bounced on the balls of her feet. "Could I perhaps take a look? I have beta-read a fic a time or two in my time, you know."

"Your attention would be pleasing me," Petra said, taking her fic out of her bag.

Watching Flayn read was more entertaining than waiting for her fic to emerge from the depths of Bernadetta's room, especially as Flayn was a very active reader, always making comments. "Ah, so this is an AR!" She said after only a few moments.

"A...what?" Petra asked.

"An Alternate Reality work, in which characters from canon are placed in a whole new setting or timeline!"

"Oh, I am having understanding...but that is an AU, is it not?" Petra asked.

Flayn flapped her hand at her. "No, no, an AU is only for changes that are possible within the canon timeline! You should be careful to put the correct term in your summary, or else your readers could be very confused."

Petra wasn't going to put either in her summary; that was what the tags were for. But she nodded her understanding anyway. Flayn was already being very helpful! Petra did not want to mistag her works.

"You should also remember to put a notice that this is a slashfic in your summary," Flayn continued. "And perhaps also a dldr notice! You do not wish to be flamed, after all." 

Petra had had years in Fodlan to get used to being confused, but those last two sentences had caused her more trouble than Fodlan speech usually did. "I am putting the fic in the right library category," she pointed out. This would be her first submission, but she knew how to put a fic in the M/M category. "I am avoiding being...flamed?" 

"Ah, I see," Flayn said, tapping her editing quill against the page. "Well, if it's in the archive's NC-17 restricted section, no one has any reason to complain...they signed the archive's warning, after all! But does that mean - " she leans in close, whispering. "That this fic contains a _lemon_?" 

"This fic is having no fruit," Petra said. "They are somewhere cold. That is why they huddle for warmth." 

"Nothing citrusy? Not even an orange?" Flayn asked, disappointed. "Well...no matter. I will continue reading." 

She did, making the occasional correction to Petra's spelling as she went, but then she gasped. "Petra! There is _absolutely_ a lemon in here!" 

Petra was starting to wonder if she had misunderstood something. Perhaps it was like orange, where the fruit also meant the color? She was fairly certain she had not put any fruit in the fic. 

"Oh, it's wonderful!" Flayn said, head bent over the page. "Oh, the passion - the kissing - the...Petra? Why is there, er, 'slick' coming from this character's...parts?" 

"He is an omega," Petra said. "It is in secret, until now. It is from the view of the alpha, so he is not knowing before."

Flayn quickly flipped back to a previous page. "Oh, I see - you did call this character an alpha many times, but I thought that meant an alpha male."

"Yes. He is an alpha, and he is a male." Petra wondered where Flayn was going with this. "Is the..." foreshadowing, what was the word for foreshadowing in the Fodlan tongue? "...the words before, that make a shadow that this is coming, are they not enough?" 

“Ah, neofen," Flayn sighed indulgently, propping her head up in her hands. "Petra, if you are introducing a new concept like this, you _absolutely_ need to explain it more than you have! I am so confused. But also - intrigued. Perhaps you can explain what is special about an alpha and an omega now, and we can insert a paragraph of that early on?"

And Petra suddenly understood what was going on. She couldn't believe it had taken her so long - with the way Seteth watched Flayn, like a mother bird unwilling to let her child fly, how would Flayn have ever even gotten to a fic archive before? 

It was a relief. For a moment there, she had wondered if there was a whole world of fic terms she didn't understand - but it was merely Flayn, cleverly covering up her unfamiliarity with fanfiction with a bunch of made-up words. "I am thanking you for reading, but am thinking Claude might want to beta as well," she said.

"Oh." Flayn deflated. "Am I not doing a good job? I'd really love to keep beta-reading for you..."

"I am appreciating the job that you are doing. But I am thinking maybe you are needing to read more before you beta." Petra gathered up her fic, rolling it up and sticking it back in her bag. "I am thinking, instead of this one fic, maybe it is time for an adventure?"

Flayn perked back up a bit. "An adventure?" 

Petra took her hand. "Abyss is having thousands of fics tagged a/b/o," she said. "I will be showing you them all."


End file.
